Saturday, July 28, 2007 17th Prisaa basketball tour opens
DAGUPAN CITY -- The 17th Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa-Metro Dagupan Divison) Inter-Collegiate Basketball Championship formally opened on Thursday at the Don Alipio Fernandez Sr. Astrodome.
Nine universities and colleges are competing for the championship trophy won last year by the University of Luzon.
The Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU) faced Asian Institute of E-Commerce (AIE) in the opening game followed by games between University of Pangasinan (Upang) and University of Luzon (UL). The Pangasinan Merchant Marine Academy (Pamma) also met Pangasinan State University (PSU).
This year's tournament was dubbed Mayor Alipio F. Fernandez Jr. Cup.
The other participant-schools are AMA Computer College, Pimsat College and Colegio de Dagupan.
Prisaa president Gonzalo Duque, during the opening program, appealed to the participants to play fair and square. He also announced the opening of Prisaa basketball tournament for secondary schools at the Dagupan City gym on August 22.
According to Dagupan Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., who was the guest speaker in the event, the measure of success in a tournament is not the sport in general but the players' discipline and respect for their fellow players and the referees.
"Carry the virtue of respect as a team and the name of the school you are representing," he said, adding that basketball is not an individual game but a sport that involves teamwork.
Mayor Fernandez, chairman of the Philippine Athletics and Track-and-Field Association (Patafa), was also a basketball player and sports buff during his younger years. (LCMY/Sunnex)
